The time-honored way of showing love in an Italian family is to offer food. Whether we're celebrating, mourning, happy, sad--if we're breathing, there's a table filled with great things to eat. Life's too short, so eat what you love and love what you eat.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

I've never eaten the Alice Springs chicken entree at Outback, but I've seen it plenty of times and, if it's half as good as this low fat version, I would order it in a heartbeat. This recipe is taken from Marlene Koch's EAT WHAT YOU LOVE: QUICK AND EASY cookbook. It's about the 10th recipe I've tried from this book, and the winning streak continues. Dinner was on the table in about 20 minutes and it was hard not to eat a second portion.

Serves 4, 5 SP per serving

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb)

1 tbs Dijon mustard

1 tbs light mayonnaise

1 tbs honey

2 tsp vinegar

2 tsp butter

1 (8 oz) package sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup shredded, reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

8 tsp real bacon bits

3 scallions, sliced

Cover the chicken breasts with plastic wrap and gently pound to a 1/4 inch thickness.

Prepare the honey mustard drizzle by whisking together the mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and vinegar. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large, nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender and browned (8-10 minutes). Remove from the pan and set aside.

Coat the same skillet with nonstick cooking spray and return the heat to medium high. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes or until the underside is brown. Turn chicken over and remove pan from the heat while you top each piece with 3 tbs. cheese and 2 tsp. of bacon bits. Return pan to heat, add 2 tbs water and immediately cover pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken cooked through.

To serve, top each breast with scallions and drizzle with a tablespoon of the honey mustard sauce.

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TASTE NOTES

This dish was amazingly good for the scant amount of fat. The chicken was juicy and the honey drizzle is my new favorite thing. I will increase the amount of mushrooms next time and serve it over some sauteed spinach.